Tile mystery

[aspac]

Good morning,
I seem to surface only when I have a problem - or perhaps that's the way things should be.

Anyway, I hope someone - or perhaps more than one person - can help with my current headache.

I have Windows Vista on my laptop. For work-related reasons I need to keep photos in Documents.

All was fine until a restart a few weeks ago.Then, instead of seeing small versions of the photos as before, I saw tiles with Photoshop Elements and, later, Picasa logos.

I uninstalled and reinstalled both - but there was no difference. Shutting down didn't help.

What this means is that I have to pick an icon at random and click on it see the photo - and repeat this until I find the one I want. The same is true of any CD I insert - icons instead of small versions of the photo.

Thinking that something that should be ticked was inadvertently unticked, I went to View in Documents. The options: File, Edit, View, Tools, Help. None - not even Tools - enabled me to see the photos. Below View was Views with options including Large Icons, Small Icons, etc. Once again, no luck. I was looking for something called Settings which may have contained to be ticked.

Can anyone suggest how I can restore the little photos in Documents (which should then also be restored on CDs)? It's probably - I hope - something very simple that I've neglected to do - or not even considered.

Many thanks,

aspac

[BOAC]

What setting do you have in the 'View' menu in the folder? Try 'Tiles'/'Medium icons'/'Content'

[Avtrician]

When you say open in documents, what exactly do you mean. By that I mean which program do you usually to view them, paint, word, windows photo viewer.

If you right click on a pic,you should see a list of options, including open with. Click on that and you should see more options, at the bottom is an otion to change default. Click on that, and you will have more options, select the one you want, or browse to the prog you want to use and select it

Picassa may have asked you if you wanted it to be the default prog at some stage, and you must have clicked yes. Its a good idea to carefully read the options presented when you install new or updated software, otherwise unwanted changes can occur.

[BOAC]

I don't think aspac wants to 'open' the image in 'Documents, just see a 'mini-thumbnail' against the file name, so I would be surprised if a default programme setting has caused this. With 'Tiles' selected I see the thumbnail but my default 'open' programme only runs if I click on the image.

Aspac - you did not say if you actually tried different view settings or were just looking for 'settings'?I was looking for something called Settings

[aspac]

Correct, BOAC: I just want to see all pics as mini-thumbnails as I did previously - and then make a choice. Otherwise I have to open many to find the one I want rather than just glance across the selection.
Avtrician - thanks. I guess BOAC's answer sums it up. Will check Picasa isn't the default . . . but then it'll probably revert to Photoshop Elements. Re the question about what setting I have in View - it's Large Icons but when I changed briefly to Small Icons and Medium Icons it made no difference so I changed back to Large Icons.
Meantime, alas the problem persists!

[aspac]

BOAC: I tried various options and was only looking for Settings because I thought it would have an option to tick.

[FullOppositeRudder]

The problem seems to be similar to what is being discussed here. (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-files/windows-vista-is-not-showing-thumbnails-windows-7/2009cc1c-de80-4cd9-9f4c-0652766745f0)

A possible answer is suggested in the third contribution on that page ....

FOR

[BOAC]

By Jove - I think you have cracked it! I put a jpg in my Doc folder, which displays the mini-thumbnail fine. Followed your process and 'ticked' the box and now only a jpg icon.

There you go, aspac - bottle of malt to FOR?

[aspac]

I think, BOAC, that I must be more stupid or naive than you imagine. I went to that link as suggested by FullOppositeRudder but didn't get very far in trying to follow the instructions.
The problem persists.
FYI, I'm using Windows Vista Home Basic.
I would usually click on Documents on my desktop monitor. It opened Documents and showed me what I wanted.
I've populated Documents both with photos (all JPGs) and PDFs I need to keep.
Previously, the photos were thumbnails (miniature versions of the photos) and the PDFs showed the first page of the documents in question.
Now the photos each show the identical Picasa logo (even though I've uninstalled Picasa, apparently successfully) and the PDFs show the Adobe PDF logo. [Photos on CDs show as Picasa logos, too.]
I've tried Large Tiles, Medium Tiles and Small Tiles - it makes no difference. I don't have Content or Settings options when I right-click on the above of any size.
Any other suggestions? I'd be grateful for any help in beating this time-wasting irritant. At the moment, when I need a picture I have to open several by trial-and-error in order to find the one I want.

[le Pingouin]

This provides clear instructions for several methods - don't attempt any of the manual registry method and it's generally unwise to download and run a REG file unless you really trust the web site:

Thumbnails in Windows Explorer (http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73715-thumbnails-windows-explorer.html)

[aspac]

Problem solved - thanks to everyone who made suggestions.
I followed the link as suggested by Le Pingouin (easy to follow instructions there), chose the File Folder option, unticked as requested . . . and I'm back to the way things were before this irritant intruded. Even photos on CDs are properly thumbnailed. Of course, I don't know what caused the problem since, in 10 years, I've NEVER been into File Folders. But that's not important. I'm now slightly sane again and can get on with life!